Legal, Decent, Honest And Truthful
In order to monitor and control advertising a number of different regulatory bodies have been established. Many countries have an Advertising Standards Authority, whose job it is to listen to complaints from the public, and establish whether or not a particular ad or campaign should be withdrawn. In the UK the situation is complex, as each medium is governed by a different regulatory body:
- Non-Broadcast Advertising is dealt with by the Advertising Standards Authority
- UK TV Advertising complaints are referred to the OfCom
- All advertising in the UK is subject to the Committee of Advertising Practice‘s Code (known as the CAP Code) and also to the Code of the European Advertising Standards Alliance.
All this leads to a maze of voluntary rules and legislation which must be negotiated by an agency seeking to produce a campaign. There are extremely strict rules regarding the advertising of tobacco (banned), alcohol (going that way), medicines/medical services and products aimed specifically at children. Advertising law is a complex area.
http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/Advertising/advertising.php?pageID=regulate
